Smoking

Just got back from the Footlights Virgin Smoker (as expected – some very promising performers, some very promising writers, some very surreal ideas, and some utter rubbish), which managed to contain no jokes about the US elections at all. Not one, unless somehow I missed them. I feel cheated.

I also missed the virtual reality helicopter landing on Peter Snow (as reported by Guardian Unlimited), and am close to my threshold of tolerance for the phrase “too close to call”. The TV is downstairs, the web is upstairs – and the web, of course, has more details. The BBC hasn’t yet mentioned, for instance, that no states have been officially called yet – just called by the networks. Although then they’d waste Peter Snow for the first few hours, which would be awful.

I have four different maps open – LA Times, BBC News and C-SPAN are pretty much tracking the same data, it seems, but the Guardian’s, although lacking in any calls whatsoever, has the best interface, and gives juicy infobits like how rich the state is.